| Term | Definition |
|---|
| antiphon | chant sung before and after song |
| Psalm | sung versions of psalm texts |
| Canticle | sung versions of poetic parts of the Bible other than psalms |
| Responsories | sung responses to lessons and readings |
| Hymns | newly composed religious pieces |
| Missal | text for mass |
| Gradual | chants for mass |
| Breviary | text for Divine Office |
| Antiphoner | chants for Divine Office |
| Psalmody | singing of psalms |
| Intonation | how you get to the reciting tone (psalm tone) |
| mediant | half cadence in the middle of the line (psalm tone) |
| Termination | how you get back down to the final (psalm tone) |
| Sequence | genre set syllabically to text mostly in couplets beginning and ending with unpaired phrases |
| Notker Balbalus | most prolific composer at sequences (St. Gall in Switzerland) |
| Canso | standard troubadour love song, courtly love |
| Alba | troubador genre, two lovers parting at dawn |
| Pastourelle | country setting, knight + shepherdess |
| Versus | Latin sacred song set to rhymed poetry |
| Conductus | Latin songs with rhymed, rhythmic text; purpose is processional |
| Goliard songs | sex, drinking, and singing songs; sophisticated |
| Chansons de Geste | manifestation of old epic narratives; heroic recounts |
| Bards | wandering performers of chansons de geste |
| Jongleurs | "carnival troupe" singers, Punch and Judy acts; itinerant |
| Minstrels | professional secular musicians employed by court, could be sons of upper class |
| Laude | Italian vernacular songs of devotion |
| Carole | English circle dance |
| Estampie | dance genre with ouvert and clos endings |
| Vox principalis | chant melody, most important voice; renamed tenor in Aquitanian |
| Vox organalis | added to chant melody, subordinate; renamed duplum in Aquitanian |
| Ligature | represents specific combination of longs and breves |
| Discant clasulae | endings of verses, cadence formulas |
Combine with other sets
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